[en] In the framework of the Argentine Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) project for treating metastatic cutaneous melanoma, we have initiated a research and development program aimed at obtaining a noninvasive methodology for following-up the treated patients. The technique is called Dynamic Infrared Imaging (DIRI) and comprises the acquisition of infrared images as a function of time of the anatomical part under study, when the region is subjected to a mild cold stress. Vascular, metabolic and regulating differences between normal and tumor tissues appear as differences in the pattern of temperature evolution, which can be correlated with the anatomical and functional aspects of both. Two patients enrolled in the BNCT protocol were studied with DIRI. A good spatial correlation between dose, temperature recovery velocity and skin reaction distributions was observed at the time of maximum expression of the erythematous reaction. Melanoma nodules appear as highly localized hyperthermic regions, surrounded and interconnected by elevated temperature areas. Their temperature recovery velocity after the thermal cold stress was substantially faster than that of normal skin with an appreciably large temperature difference (6 degreesC to 10 degreesC). These tissue differences can be related with the thermal conductivity and metabolic rate as explained by a simple one-directional heat transport model. Compared with other imaging modalities (CT and Doppler ultrasound) DIRI has had a similar ability for confirming the already diagnosed nodules. Together with the clinical observation, DIRI provides a potentially useful amount of information, at a competitive cost-benefit relationship suitable for performing a non-invasive functional assessment of this kind of cutaneous lesions and the evaluation of the acute skin reaction following irradiation. (author)